Northern Illinois Food Bank awarded

Northern Illinois Food Bank recently received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator. This is the 11th consecutive time that the food bank has earned this top distinction, putting the Food Bank in the class of only 1 percent of all charities nationwide that have earned the distinction 11 straight years.

Since 2002, using data-driven analysis, Charity Navigator has awarded only the most fiscally responsible organizations a 4-star rating. In 2011, Charity Navigator added a second dimension of Accountability and Transparency (A&T) to its rating methodology, and now reviews 17 governance and ethical practices as well as measures of openness, providing information on its web site for each of the charities it evaluates. The A&T metrics, which account for 50 percent of a charity’s overall rating, reveal which charities have best practices that minimize the chance of unethical activities and whether they freely share basic information about their organization.

“Northern Illinois Food Bank’s coveted 4-star rating puts them in a very select group of high-performing charities,” said Ken Berger, president and CEO of charity Navigator. “Out of the thousands of nonprofits Charity Navigator evaluates, only one out of four earns 4 stars – a rating that, now, with our new Accountability and Transparency metrics, demands even greater rigor, responsibility and commitment to openness. Northern Illinois Food Bank’s supporters should feel confident that their hard-earned dollars are being used efficiently and responsibly when it acquires such a high rating.”

“It’s important our donors trust that we’re using their gifts wisely to solve hunger in northern Illinois,” added Julie Yurko, president and CEO of Northern Illinois Food Bank. “Our 4-star Charity Navigator rating demonstrates to our supporters that we take our fiduciary and governance responsibilities very seriously, while growing our meal distribution programs to better serve our neighbors in need.”

Northern Illinois Food Bank’s rating and other information about charitable giving are available free of charge on charitynavigator.org. More-detailed information about the Food Bank’s rating is available to Charity Navigator site visitors who become registered users, another free service.